All good things must come to an end (but good things can start)

Jess brought up the minor war against some of the beings and she nodded, saying, "I didn't know much about it at the time, but a lot of it is in our records, and a lot of the werewolves and vampires I deal with were around and are still a little messed up over it." A big part of her job was a form of therapy where she checked on the mental health of some of the people she worked with. For a lot of those involved, that war had certainly done a number on them.

Jess brought up goblins and Jack laughed, saying, "I've never been good with goblins. We bicker a lot. My intern Teddy does wonders with them though."

Jess nodded. "Mmm, I can understand that... it was violent.. not pretty... during that year I was really quite ashamed to be a member of the wizarding race. The... we did our part though... it took a lot of smoothing over to escape azkaban for those of us who defended our... more animalistic friends," he chuckled as he told her, raising his glass only to find it was empty.

"Bother," he muttered, looking around and gesturing for a waiter to bring him another drink. "Goblins scare me, I don't think they'll ever truly come round to our side.. they don't forget, do they," he muttered

Jack said, "We make a lot of mistakes as humans. Either we make amends and move on, or we dwell and feel the shame." Ironic that she would suggest and imply the better option, and yet she subscribed more often to the second option. She blinked away those thoughts and took another hearty swig of her drink. "Goblins are worrisome. They're brilliant as hell, and they don't say much- which is a recipe for disaster. You never can read a goblin."

Jack's words were very poignant, Jess felt, though they weren't necessarily ones he agreed with, for what would we be if we did not focus at least a little on the past and learn from our own past experiences? Goblins on the other hand, he completely agreed with. Not only was their ability to mask their thoughts uncannily well-practiced, their secretive nature had always creeped Jess out considerably. "You can never read a goblin," he repeated, smiling to the waiter as his next drink arrived and drinking from it.

He then realised that he didn't have much else to say - they'd covered politics, after all, really all that he could go onto after a topic like that was religion...

yeahno.

((Was there anything else in particular Jack was aiming to get out of this, or shall we wrap it up? Talky talk threads don't have long lives with uncreative me ))

((not really. I feel the same. Let's put a bow on this thing and wrap it up))

"Yeah..." Jack said, feeling the oppressive feeling of small talk descending upon the conversation. She was saved, er, rescued, ER RELIEVED by the waitress bringing them the check. Jack reached into her pocket to fish out her half of the bill and then set out a few sickles for a tip. "Well, Jess, it's been good. I need to be going- I do have a shop to hold down." She reached out a hand to shake his.

Jess smiled at the waitress as she passed them the cheque, reaching into his own pocket and pulling out the full bill's worth, sliding Jack's money back to her. "You helped me out a fair bit today Jack, I really didn't want to go into that thing on my own - it's the least I can do," he told her in an attempt to pre-empt the refusal that was undoubtedly going to come his way.

Luckily the waitress didn't give Jack much of an opportunity to refuse, scooping up Jess' money and leaving the two of them sitting there. "It was a pleasure," Jess replied, taking the hand and shaking it twice, smiling at Jack as he rose in his chair. "I'll see you tomorrow night at the meeting," he added, walking out the door and disappearing with a crack

Jess insisted on paying, which Jack usually hated. She was a high standing Ministry official, after all, she should be able to afford her own meals. But the costs of running Satan's and Weasley's really added up, and all the extra work she did with the werewolves cost her too. So she let him have this. "That's my usuall bodyguard fee anyway," she said with a smirk. She shook his hand and said, "Until then." He left and she strolled out, walking with her hands in her pockets back to her store.